News

Alternative Angles Launch

Disability no bar to employment!

Alternative Angles, a social enterprise partnership between Triangle Housing Association and the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, is celebrating just over 18 months of success. At an event on Friday 27 June in Ballymena North Business and Recreation Centre,staff from both organisations gathered with business partners to mark the remarkable rise of the scheme. 

The partnership between the Northern Trust and Triangle has grown significantly since November 2006 when, with European funding through the Ballymena Local Strategy Partnership, Alternative Angles was established in the town. The partnership now has Alternative Angles projects established in Cookstown, Coleraine and Newtownabbey. 

The various schemes have enabled adults with a learning disability to undertake work preparation programmes. These help build confidence and skills, improving employment opportunities for many people whose prospects may otherwise have been limited. 

Trainees take part in a wide range of activities from producing conference packs, electronic business cards and DVDs to manufacturing candles, bird feeding packs and diagnostic kits for home use. A number of local businesses use the resources that the Alternative Angles partnership can offer. This provides real work experience for those involved.  

Trainees are from a wide cross section of the community and will come to the schemes from adult centres or through community referrals from the Northern Trust. Many are school leavers. There are currently 68 trainees working across the various programmes and 80 have been involved since the schemes inception in November 2006. 

Norma Evans, Chief Executive of the Northern Trust attended the event. She said. 

“It is wonderful to come together with our partners as well as the various staff and trainees to mark this great achievement here in Ballymena where Alternative Angles first began. The partnership has created opportunities where there were virtually none. It has empowered a group of people in a real and meaningful way whose contribution has in the past all too often been overlooked.” 

Chris Alexander, Chief Executive of Triangle Housing Association said the growth of the scheme had been amazing in such a short period of time and added, 

‘’We believe the real work experiences will contribute significantly to the progression to full employment of many individuals with disability. The self fulfilment found in the creativity of work and its contribution to the wider community is a belief at the heart of Triangle’s and our Health Trust partner’s ethos. This ethos is reflected in the activities of Alternative Angles.”